Hinges
by butterflye
Summary: Lover and brother aren't that different, when you think of it phonetically. Thom/Rook


**Hinges**  
****

**_Disclaimer:_ Q)If I said I owned Havemercy, who would honestly believe me? A) NOT ME.**

_**A/N:**** I thought the Havemercy category was woefully empty and felt that there needed to be at least a two-parter in there. So here it is. (Although obviously this is just part one, and I'm currently working on part 2) Also, I have no control over my plunnies, or style/syntax. That just makes it more fun.**_

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_Thom thinks. Thom thinks about life, death and the hereafter. Thom thinks that he quite enjoys his books. Thom misses the safety of his library, but loves the freedom this new life gives. Thom thinks that it__'__s a shame Rook is his brother._

**Rook does not usually think. But he****'****s thinking a hell of a lot these days. He thinks about how Have should be here, WITH HIM, not in a heap on the Ke Han side of things. He thinks he****'****s not fucking sentimental, but he misses, **_**really**_** misses his team, his family. He thinks he wants Hilary to just fucking be **_**Thom**_** again. **

They travel, lost in their silence, lost in their thoughts, wanting, wishing, hoping for something to come along and shake them from their reverie. Jealousy runs deep in this heavy silence, jealousy of a functional relationship, jealousy (on Rook's part, at least) of that damn Mary Margrave, jealousy of a real life, where they're not long-lost brothers and everything is all right.

It's hard, Thom thinks (again), to deal with Rook. He has to remember that he's Rook's brother and that he can't just tell him to please go away and thankyouverymuch. And Rook wants to fucking _kill_ Thom sometimes, and then catches himself, his breath hitching, remembering just how close Thom - Hilary - was to actually being dead.

So when they finally stop moving, and settle in a small but rather luxurious hotel - courtesy of Rook's newfound fame - only to discover that they can share a room, or sleep in the lobby. So they share, Rook being alarmingly kind and taking the floor.

So Thom take the bed and falls asleep almost before he pulls the covers over himself.

Sometime later, in what Thom presumes to be the dead of night, he hears a noise, loud enough to jolt him from his sleep. It's Rook, he realizes, a shock running through him. It's Rook, and he's muttering something about "but…him?" and it frightens Thom.

Then, as if possessed by something distinctly not-Thom-like, he all but falls out of the bed and pads over to the lump on the floor that is Rook.

"Er," he says, eloquently, suddenly remembering that it's the dead of night and Rook is occasionally violent. Rook stirs slightly, rolls over, and lets out a magnificent snore. Oddly, Thom finds this rather endearing. He decides to try once more, even if only to hear the comforting noise of Rook's snoring.

"Er," he says again, "Rook?" and then "Er. John?"

RookJohn's reaction is incredibly unexpected. Or, at least, the slightly unhinged, irrational part of Thom's mind thinks it is. In fact, says Thom's logic, it's perfectly normal to wake up when someone is saying your name. Rook opens one eye.

"Whuh?" he says, still partially asleep. Thom stares. For an enormously long time, he had thought that Rook was at his most vulnerable while sleeping, only to be proven wrong by this chain of events. Rook was, in fact, more vulnerable _half-asleep_ that fully asleep.

Thom decides to be thorough and says, "Er," once more and then launches into his story about how he was sleeping and then there was a noise and he was worried that someone might be trying to kill them (this part is a lie, but he doesn't want Rook to know that he immediately thought of him) and then it was just Rook, and he thought maybe he should make sure he was all right.

Rook blinks twice, rubs his eyes, and then sits up. Thom, who is standing, finds himself almost at eye level with Rook.

He realizes how helpful that is when Rook kisses him.


End file.
